1st annual filmmaker fund
Out On Film proudly announces the recipients of our First Annual Filmmaker Fund! In our commitment to champion queer filmmakers, we've selected six outstanding individuals from a pool of dozens of applicants to receive grants of up to $2000, facilitating the completion of their film projects. Congratulations to our deserving recipients; we eagerly anticipate the unveiling of your films!
These grants were made possible through the success of our 2023 Kickstarter campaign. We're excited to kickstart our next fundraising campaign on May 17th! Keep an eye out for our campaign and join us in empowering more queer filmmakers in the future!
recipients
Jonathan Andre Culliton (he/him)“WILLA JUSTICE: Drag Queen Private Eye”
Jonathan Andre Culliton (Producer/Writer/Director) is a trans filmmaker based out of California’s high desert. Born in Boston, MA, Culliton attended New York Film Academy's directorial program in 2006. Culliton’s work often includes LGBTQ themes, like in Michael Yip's "The Gay Mafia," Sarah Taborga's "Dear Queer Dancer" and Heather Muriel Nguyen's "Thơ." He is best known for "Bombshell," available on Amazon and is the co-creator of the upcoming "Spookable," executive produced by Zackary Drucker. His first podcast, the Trans Cinematic Universe Podcast, premiered in April 2022 and he is set to launch a spin-off “TCU: Desert Planet Reviews” with Other Desert Radio in 2024. He was recently awarded a mentorship under the 29 Arts Council in Inclusive Storytelling.
Millie Evans (she/her)
“9 Lives”
Millie Rose Evans is an accomplished film actress, appearing in several commercials, feature productions and independent films. She played a nurse in the Paramount Pictures production of The InBetween starring Joey King. She also worked with King and director McG in the upcoming feature film, The Uglies. She credits a lot of her set knowledge to the years she doubled for Millie Bobby Brown as "Eleven” in seasons 3 and 4 of the Netflix hit, Stranger Things. She co-starred in an independent film directed by Carrie Schrader, who was listed by Indie Wire as one of the "Top 10 Directors You Should Know." She co-majored in Film and Women’s Studies at Georgia State University. Millie has studied acting at the Alliance Theater, Drama Inc, and improv at Dad’s Garage, all in Atlanta. She recently wrote, directed and plays the lead in her first film, 9 Lives. Millie took to filmmaking at a very young age, using her parents’ video camera to make short movies with her friends. She is also a musician and a songwriter, playing the piano and guitar. Born and raised in Athens, she now lives in Atlanta, Ga.
Hannah Myers (she/her)
“DADDY”
Hannah Myers (she / her) is a Director and Filmmaker, bred in the Carolinas and based in NYC. She is a 2023 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow and Telluride Film Festival Symposium Alumni and annual education programs staff member. Her films have received support from The Gotham (IFP), DOC NYC, Southern Documentary Fund, Mountainfilm, Video Consortium, The Kenan Institute, OUT at the Movies, Center for Independent Documentary, and The Cabins Residency and screened at festivals worldwide. With roots in the theater, she has worked closely on new play development with Atlantic Theater Company, Lincoln Center, Soho Rep., The Bushwick Starr, SITI Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, and Gibney Dance Center among others. She works closely with arts and culture nonprofits such as SPACE on Ryder Farm and leading solutions journalism publication, Reasons to be Cheerful, founded by David Byrne. Co-Founder of Tiedyen4biden (Vogue, LATimes), a grassroots movement that raised $170,000 for progressive campaigns during the 2020 election cycle. University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA, Drama).
Michael Donte (he/him)
“What Channel is Love?”
Michael Donte, is an acclaimed filmmaker who has earned awards like the Newfest Black Emerging LGBTQ+ Filmmakers and the Urbanworld Film Festival's Best Young Creator. His standout short film, "The Spirit God Gave Us," featuring Nic Ashe (known for "Queen Sugar" and "Choir Boy"), has been showcased at festivals including Outfest, NewFest, Blackstar, and Bronzelens Film Festival. The support of GLAAD, BEAM, and The Film Collaborative has backed Michael’s work.
In addition to his acclaimed independent projects, Michael has also made significant contributions to the commercial landscape, collaborating with industry giants such as Google and Lenovo and agencies like Portal A. In his role as a Creative Executive collaborating with YouTube Originals, he contributed to the development of a show titled "Recipe for Change" with LeBron James' SpringHill production company. His work culminated in the creation of a captivating 3-part series named "Spectrum," which sheds light on Black lives across Asia, spanning Japan, India, and Korea.
Lane Stanley (he/they)
“T”
Lane Michael Stanley is a transgender director, playwright, filmmaker, and producer, and the co-founder of Secretly Famous Productions, along with Lowell Blank. Their films include their award-winning debut feature film ADDICT NAMED HAL (2022; Austin Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival); their upcoming second feature T (currently in post-production after being filmed incrementally over the lead actor’s first two years on Testosterone); their short films UNTIE (Outfest), PROMISE (American Dance Festival, Dance Camera West), and BOIFRIEND (Reeling, Sidewalk Film Festival, co-directed with Rebecca Marquardt); and their upcoming documentary QUENTIN BLUE (Winner, Film Fund Pitch Competition). They have been a commissioned artist and/or fellow with Lambda Literary, Tin House Winter Workshop, Ground Floor Theatre, and Art with Impact, and they are currently the Resident Artist with coLAB Arts and Mission First Housing Group, where they are making art alongside residents of two permanent supportive housing developments in Edison, New Jersey. They hold an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. For more information, please visit www.lanemichaelstanley.com.
Rashaad Newsome (he/him)
“Assembly”
Born and raised in New Orleans, Rashaad Newsome is a multidisciplinary artist whose work blends several practices—including collage, sculpture, film, music, technology, and performance—to form an altogether new field. Using the diasporic tradition of improvisation, he crafts compositions that speak of and to Black and queer culture, blending intersectionality, social practice and abstraction. He has exhibited and/or performed at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Whitney Museum, and the Centre Georges Pompidou. Newsome has created more than 15 short films which have screened at festivals and been acquired by numerous institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and SFMOMA. For the past two years, he was a visiting artist at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.